one author's flights of fantasy

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The Snowy Day

“Late in the middle watch of a calm winter’s night, many years ago, a square-rigged, three-masted ship, the Sarah Casket, was making her way slowly through northern seas under a blaze of stars.” And so begins the adventures of young Dido Twite, who is rescued from a watery grave by Captain Casket in Joan Aiken’s “Nightbirds on Nantucket.”

Here’s a list of ten magical reads for young and old, to be enjoyed by the fire on a cold winter’s night:

10. Last but not least, one of my all-time favorites: The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

“It was a lady; her cloak and cap were of snow. She was tall and of slender figure, and of a dazzling whiteness. It was the Snow Queen.

“We have travelled fast,” said she; “but it is freezingly cold. Come under my bearskin.” And she put him in the sledge beside her, wrapped the fur round him, and he felt as though he were sinking in a snow-wreath.

“Are you still cold?” asked she; and then she kissed his forehead. Ah! it was colder than ice; it penetrated to his very heart..”